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Separated Landing - Mars
The Arialbots make their way to Earth following Optimus Prime's signal, but Air Raid gets separated from Fireflight, landing on Mars while Fireflight ends up on Earth. On Mars, Air Raid is discovered by Ratbat and with Spectre's help decides to capture him. Characters Involved: Air Raid played by Suburban Wolf '''(Chasm) '''Ratbat played by Arctic Spectre played by Suburban Wolf '''(Chasm) '''Air Raid The pod impacted the orangey-red surface of the planet Mars, bouncing and flipping before finally stopping. With a hiss, it broke open, allowing a white, red, and black Cybertronian to climb out. ~"Need to work on those landings..."~ He spoke to no one in particular, looking at the path from his pod, then looking all around him. Fear and worry started in his chest as he realized that his brother Fireflight had not landed with him. ~"Fireflight? Fireflight!"~ {"Ooooohhhh.....Slag. 'Bolt's gona kill me if he finds out I lost 'Flight..."} Transforming into an alien-looking jet, Air Raid began to fly across the terrain of the planet trying to locate his brother. ~"'Flight!"~ He scanned for any sign of his brother, and caught the blip that appeared on his radar. Ratbat Ratbat had been moving through the Mars base the Decepticons had established on that planet. He had been the one to catch the alarm that said another being had landed on this planet, and he was the one going to check it out. If anything was up, he would announce it to his superior above him. And, he was now reaching the area in which Air Raid had landed. It had been a short distance, and he was much closer now. It was good he was a pinkish-purple color, because Ratbat's coloration would make him difficult to see out. Well, except for the parts on him in a different coloration. Ratbat saw Air Raid, and halted, not sure if he was a Decepticon or Autobot, and finding it odd that he was yelling for someone. Or just about that. Who was Fireflight? Oh well, didn't really matter at the moment. Ratbat landed a distance away, audio sensors tuned to maximum as he scanned for the Cybertronian’s energy signature. If Ratbat was detected on radar, then he would be a... Tiny blip in relation to this robot. Air Raid Air Raid flew to where the blip was, and growled in disappointment. It was far too small to belong to Fireflight. Circling around once, the black jet lowered his altitude drastically and dropped his speed, moving down for a landing. Once he was close enough, he transformed, taking a few quick steps before stopping. The blip bothered him. It was Cybertronian in origin, but very small. {"Might be one of ol' Soundwave's little terrors..."} Air Raid moved closer, pulling his torque rifle out. {"But, what would Soundwave want with this rock?"} Having not been around the entire planet yet, Air Raid did not know of the existence of the Decepticon base. Ratbat Hopping into the air, Ratbat flapped a few times and started flying in Air Raid's direction. He was flying in a more upward direction, aiming to get closer to Air Raid to identify him as a foe or friend. But, either way, he could be potential clientele, the only thing necessary would be to make sure he could legally sell to him. Ratbat hailed Air Raid on a neutral frequency, hovering in place with the aid of his thrusters. What was he to do? He sent a signal back to the base to basically say that it should be on standby. Whatever happened here, he would go and inform Soundwave on Earth as soon as he could. Air Raid Air Raid spun as the blip moved, flashing the Autobot symbol on the underside of his left wing, optics searching for the source. =~"Who are you? Show yourself!"~= He raised his rifle, ready to fire. He was nervous with this much open area around him, and no one watching his back. Quickly, he found Fireflight through the bond, and relayed his approximate location, as well as the fact that he was going to be a little late in making planetfall. {"At least 'Flight is alright..."} He thought with gratitude. Ratbat Flapping, Ratbat was rather obvious as he flew up, above where Air Raid was, or about to his head height. He was going to play this smart, and make sure he took this Autobot by surprise. Pretend that he had not just seen the Autobot symbol, that he thought he was probably a Decepticon. ~"Hello, Good fellow!"~ Ratbat was close enough to make himself heard, and he hovered, trying to make himself as visible as possible. He had already sent a signal back to the base, saying that it was indeed an Autobot. He just had to hope they sent reinforcements. Air Raid Air Raid whipped around, bringing his rifle up completely, to face the source of the voice. His optics narrowed when he saw Ratbat, but didn't recognize him. ~"Who are you?"~ Air Raid demanded, aiming his rifle at Ratbat. ~"What do you want?"~ He did a radar sweep of the area to see if there was any other bots approaching. Ratbat ~"I believe I should be the one asking you that. State your designation, function, and allegiance."~ Ratbat's tone left no room for disagreement. If Air Raid tried to turn the question back on him, Ratbat would fly away, hopefully leading him into an ambush. Of course, that would only work if any other Decepticons were in the area, and if they had answered the call. Ratbat flapped a few times and considered shrieking, deciding not to bother damaging the audios of this bot. If it was a Decepticon, he would gladly offer it fuel. If it was an Autobot, then he would do the same, and, then lead him straight into the base's defenses. Air Raid Optics narrowed, Air Raid answered. ~"Air Raid, but that's all you're getting right now, seeing as you haven't answered the question I asked first, twice."~ The grip on his rifle tightened. All he needed was one hit on the smaller bot, and the rotational force fired from the torque rifle would take care of the rest. ~"So, I'll ask again: Who are you?"~ Ratbat ~"Ya really wanna know?"~ Any good Autobot would likely have at least heard rumors of Soundwave's 'collection,' if not know they exist. Of course, he couldn't ascribe the compliment to any Autobots. They were mostly incompetent. Therefore, Ratbat couldn't risk it. He sent a panic signal to the base, and activated his sonic disruptor. This sent an attack of actual sound at the Autobot. Having done what he wished to the Autobot, he flapped hard, turning and flying away as fast as he could. If possible, eh would lead the Autobot to the weaponry of the base. If not, he would have at least damaged it somewhat. Air Raid Air Raid stumbled backwards from the blast, audios ringing from the noise. Giving his head a shake to clear it, he fired a poorly-aimed shot at Ratbat before transforming and taking off after him. His flight pattern was a bit unstable, but gradually leveled out as he regained his focus. ~"Get back here, Decepticon coward!"~ Air Raid snarled, firing more shots from his torque rifle in its new position just under what could be described as his nosecone. Ratbat Ratbat panicked. He had been hit, and that rifle had done its slagging job. Now, he was spinning through the air, smoke coming from his rather mangled wing, and he was dropping towards the Mars ground. This was not good, he suppressed the pain, trying to avoid thinking about it. As soon as he impacted the ground, he was virtually done for. Of course, there was always the distinct possibility of him being captured, but he really did not want that. Therefore, he sent out a distress signal, only being able to hope that somebody was going to come out here to save him. Ratbat hit the ground and skidded with a yelp. He was playing dead, switching off all of his communications as he tried to drop his energy signature as low as he could without actually going offline. This was not good at all. And his prospects could only get worse from here. Air Raid Air Raid circled around once, then landed, transforming, rifle in hand once more. He cautiously made his way to where he'd seen Ratbat land, radar continuing to sweep the area for anyone else that might be coming. He got a single blip far off, but it quickly disappeared. {"Must be just a malfunction..."} He brushed the blip out of his mind, spotting the still form of Ratbat. Carefully, he stepped closer, and nudged the form with his foot. Spectre A few hundred meters outside of Air Raid's radar range, a large ship sat on the surface of the red planet. Well, large by human standards. In truth, the ship had room for only a few occupants, and that was with semi-comfortable conditions. There was usually only one occupant on the ship. Said occupant was a stocky, grey-blue-green cycle-bot. Glowing red optics looked at the navigation screen in front of him. There were two signals withing his ship's range, an Autobot and a Decepticon, and the Decepticon one was emitting a distress beacon. ~"Hm. That's interesting. Usually they don't do that..."~ The mech leaned back in his seat, thinking for a moment, before sending a communication to the Decepticon signal. =~"Sounds like you're in a bit of a tight spot, friend. Luckily, you've got me close by. What can Spectre do for you today?"~= It was a name that could be considered well-known. Spectre was a merc, which meant he'd do just about any job for the right price. There was always one catch, though. If it got younglings involved, he'd drop the job quicker than a live grenade. Ratbat Ratbat couldn't stop the yelp from emitting from his vocal processor as he was nudged. That shot had done a large amount of damage and Air Raid had been checking to see if he was still alive. At the communications link, Ratbat nearly sighed with relief. At least somebody had finally noticed he was out here. =~"Assistance requested!"~= Pain was clearly audible in his voice as he sent his reply to Spectre. He whimpered, hoping Air Raid didn't get it in his head to kill him. That would be... Anti-climatic. Well, to him at least. Air Raid Air Raid growled at the yelp that came from the smaller bot. {"Still alive. Great..."} He brought his rifle up, aimed at Ratbat. ~"Gimme one good reason not to take you down to the Autobot base with me. I'm sure a lot of the Autobots would be happy with not having to deal with you running about."~ Spectre Spectre was already out of his ship and moving, alt mode driving almost silently across the surface of the planet at top speed, when the reply was sent. He had a number of his "creations" with him, not really sure what his new client wanted. That could be worked out along the way. His signal was masked, so he'd come up virtually undetected. =~"I'll be at your location in a few click. So, tell me, what is it you'd like done? We can work out payment afterwords."~= He chuckled, slowing down as he got closer so the dust cloud wouldn't give him away. It had been a while since Spectre had gotten a decent enough job, and while his ship was nice, repaired, and fully fueled, Spectre was not. He'd been running on reserves for the past few solar-cycles, even with rationing his stores. Ratbat That was stupid. Ratbat froze at Air Raid's threat, but he really tensed up at what Spectre said. What did he want!? What did he want!? He wanted to remain alive, that's what! What else would he want!? =~"Assistance please!"~= There wasn't much that Ratbat could do otherwise, but he hoped that either the other mech would actually assist him, or that he would be captured. It would be better than death certainly. He tried to keep from appearing threatening, and considered the stupidity of Air Raid's suggestion. What could he do to the jet in this position? Not much in all actuality. Spectre Spectre chuckled again, transforming and creeping up the rest of the way. He could see the Autobot, one that his lists identified as "Air Raid." The Decepticon was identified as "Ratbat." =~"Well, I was asking if you wanted him dead or alive, but I guess I'll just go with alive for now. Easier to remedy the situation than the other way around."~= Carefully, he pulled a small jar out of his sub space, and opened it, letting several of his "creations" out. They were small, techno-organic spiders. Earth was a familiar place for him. Following a mostly undetectable series of sounds from Spectre, the spiders made their way over to Air Raid, crawling up under his armor, and biting the neural-transmission wiring, injecting a paralyzing toxin. Air Raid Air Raid had started to reach down to get Ratbat, when pain suddenly flared up from his legs, making him yelp and stumble. He fell backwards onto his rear, almost falling the rest of the way and nearly snapping his wingtips off. ~"Gah! What the frag?!"~ He began to get up, and soon found that his legs weren't responding. Another flash of pain surged from his shoulders, and it wasn't long after the pain subsided a bit that the black jet found himself on his back, arms failing to respond. {"Great...Just great..."} Knowing that Fireflight wouldn't be able to help, and wanting to keep his brother out of danger, Air Raid pressured Fireflight to continue on to the Autobot base. Ratbat =~It would be better for him to be alive. What is your usual asking price?~= Ratbat understood mercenaries. They were not an actual part of either faction and needed to look after themselves. Therefore, he would either ask for credits or supplies. Credits would probably be the preferred method, as they could be used to buy any supplies that were needed. Of course, mercs could be high priced, but Ratbat didn't mind. As a fuel auditor, either way, Ratbat would be doing nothing but giving away his wares, possibly. Of course, he would have to make up the profits somewhere. He pushed himself up onto his small feet and turned to gaze at Air Raid, cradling his injured limb close to him. So what could he do with his new prisoner? It would be good to torture him for information, or maybe he could just let him go. Get an Autobot to owe him a favor, that would be better than a large amount of information in his optics. But then again, there would not be too much to do with that favor, or any information. Perhaps they could just bargain him off? Spectre Spectre called the spiders back into the jar, closing the lid as he stood up and began walking. =~"Well, usually I'd be asking for creds, but if you've got about 6,000 units of fuel for myself, I'll take it. If not, then 12,000 creds. I'm feeling generous."~= 'Spectre also felt like being well-supplied, especially since he didn't have a job lined up. He looked at Air Raid, then Ratbat. '=~"I'll even help you move him, and yourself, at no extra charge. You look like you could use the help."~= Air Raid Air Raid struggled in an attempt to move an arm or leg, still having movement abilities in his back. He wings were fine as well, though the fuselage that ran down his back was a little worse for wear. His optics narrowed when Ratbat looked at him, growling. ~"What are you looking at?"~ He snapped irritably. {"What the hell did he do to me? And who's the new guy?"} As much as he wasn't showing it, the black jet was concerned about his situation. He was stuck by himself, with no back-up. Ratbat Ratbat mused over the price, looking at Air Raid. =~"That is a fair price, I agree to it. And, assistance in moving him would be greatly appreciated."~= Ratbat climbed up onto one of Air Raid's feet. He wouldn't be much use in the movement anyway, and it wasn't like his small weight would make it overly difficult, if this mercenary could move this jet. ~"So, Air Raid, got any information you want to give up? Be a good little mech, and I might even consider releasing you."~ Ratbat could not resist a chortle at that. Spectre Spectre pulled some cables out of his sub space storage. Air Raid was a good size bigger than him, but Spectre knew a few tricks. Once the cables were wrapped securely around the jet's frame, Spectre pulled out a few anti-gravity devices. My making Air Raid hover above the surface, Spectre could decrease the amount of drag the jet would create significantly. =~"Glad that we could come to an agreement."~= Spectre replied. He hooked the cables to the appropriate locations on his robot mode for when he transformed, and transformed into his cycle mode. =~"Hop on."~= Air Raid Air Raid growled at Ratbat, struggling to get the smaller bot off him, and to try to keep Spectre from securing him. ~"Why would I want to tell you anything, Decepticreep?!"~''' ''He growled, before laughing. ~"And you want me to 'be a good little mech?' Hah! Too bad for you, I don't like behaving. Especially for 'Cons!"'~ This, he decided, was not something Fireflight, or the others, needed to worry about. Slowly, so they wouldn't pick up on it easily, he closed off his end of the bond, making his way to the point that they wouldn't be able to tell what was going on with him, but would still be able to communicate. Ratbat Ratbat hopped off of Air Raid and moved over to Spectre. After seeing the Cycle-bot transform, he climbed up onto the mech's seat. He wondered what he should do with the jet. ~" I really don't think you are in a position to speak much Jet."~ Ratbat waited for the beginning of the trip and thought about what to do with his new prisoner. Perhaps he could convince someone to allow him to drain the creature of Energon completely. It would be better to not let the precious fluid waste away in the body of a corpse. Spectre Engines coming quietly to life, Spectre started driving. =~"Lead the way."~= He told Ratbat, heading in a more general direction. He'd seen the base while he was landing, so knew approximately where it was, but knew he'd need more specific directions to get there. Air Raid Air Raid growled again. ~"I'll speak as much as I want, Decepticreep! You aren't getting anything from me without a fight!"~ He cursed to himself as they started moving. His rifle was left on the ground, having been unable to continue holding it. He marked the coordinates of where it was, so he could retrieve it, if he escaped. {"No, can't think like that! I'll escape. Hit them so hard their optics'll still be spinning in their helms!"} Ratbat =~"It's about nine point seven degrees north of your current heading. Just continue heading straight and you will get there."~= Silently, Ratbat was hoping the loudmouth would escape. Perhaps whatever immobilized him would wear off. It didn't matter however, because soon, the idiot would be out of his hands. That was all that mattered to Ratbat. ((Continued in “With a Little Luck”)) Category:Finished Threads